When Ehandel.se calls Joel Löwenberg, CEO of Gymkompaniet, he confirms that the company is ready. The company sells training equipment, which means bulky goods and longer customer journeys. When asked if the digital right of withdrawal function is in place before today's legal requirement, the answer comes without hesitation.
Yes, we implemented that several months ago, says Joel Löwenberg.
According to him, no complicated technical rebuilds were required to meet the authorities' requirements. The task could be handed over to the technical side and solved quickly.
I sent the developer: "Hey, have you seen that this function will be needed?" and he replied "Good, we'll set it up right away." And that was done. Then I haven't heard anything more about it and it was fixed, he says.
The company chose to integrate the function into its existing customer system.
For us, it wasn't a big deal. We have it in logged-in mode and I think it was approved, and then it's just a function in the logged-in mode. So it's not strange in that way, says Joel Löwenberg.
Some e-commerce companies have expressed concern that a digital right of withdrawal button could lead to more purchases being cancelled once the goods have already been shipped from the warehouse, creating returns directly from the agent.
For Gymkompaniet, the return rate is around one percent and Joel Löwenberg does not see that the function will change that.
We already had a page where you fill in your return and an email was sent to us, so there is no major difference from what we already had. I tell myself that this is a more difficult situation for companies that are already prone to having a lot of returns. For us, it's often that the customer has been thinking about it for a month and then makes a purchase after talking to us. It's probably not a major process.
Fashion Giant Builds On Existing Routines
To investigate preparedness in a segment with a traditionally higher return frequency, Ehandel.se turned to Boozt. The company is one of the more established players in the Nordic fashion market. Rasmus Bruun, who works with communications at the company, confirms that the systems have been updated.
Yes. Boozt is ready and will have the function in place on both web and app in accordance with the new rules. Customers can already handle returns digitally in the app or on the website where they shopped, so this builds on an experience we have offered for several years, says Rasmus Bruun.
The regulations now being introduced in Sweden originate at European level, which means that cross-border e-commerce companies must adapt across the continent.
The requirement comes from an EU directive that applies to the entire European market, not just Sweden, and we have been preparing for it for several months, says Rasmus Bruun.
Unlike durable goods, clothing companies expect goods to be returned. To reduce the number of returns due to incorrect size, the company uses technical aids before the customer goes to the checkout.
We put a lot of effort into helping customers buy the right item from the start, for example through detailed product descriptions and size recommendations based on machine learning that flags when an item is small or large in size.
Rasmus does not believe that the simplified method of cancelling a purchase will change how their customers act, as return management is already an integral part of their business model.
When the fit is still not right, we make it as easy as possible to return. It is in the nature of online commerce that you cannot try on a garment before it arrives at home, and therefore we see free and smooth returns as part of good service. We already offer customers 30 days return policy on boozt.com, in addition to what the law requires, and therefore we do not expect the new function to change customer behavior to any noticeable extent, he concludes.